We visited the Boston burger chain that claims Chipotle copied them

Hollis Johnson
Chipotle is planning to throw itself into the fast-casual burger ring — and one Boston-based chain is none too pleased about it.

When the ubiquitous burrito chain — which is still recovering from the E. coli outbreaks — revealed the branding of the new burger venture, Tasty Made, some believed they had seen it before.

Tasty Burger, a six-location restaurant chain in Boston and Washington, DC, is accusing Chipotle of copying the burger joint's trademarks.

"Despite the obvious David and Goliath scenario, we cannot simply stand by and watch an enormously powerful company like Chipotle move forward with opening a burger restaurant with a similar name, mark, and logo design," Tasty Burger CEO David Dubois said in a statement.

While in Boston recently, I decided to check out a nearby Tasty Burger to see what Chipotle's potential burger rival is like.

Here are the two logo designs, side by side, so you can judge for yourself. Certainly similar, but if they're similar enough to have a case is yet to be decided.

Tasty Burger

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I stopped by the Tasty Burger around the corner from Fenway Park, Boston's iconic and beloved baseball park. The neighborhood is experiencing a staggering amount of development, which could be good news for Tasty Burger.

Hollis Johnson

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This location was converted from an auto body shop, with big windows and bay doors. There's an outdoor window and seating, as well as table service and a bar inside.

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I stopped by after the lunch rush, so there were plenty of open seats. But when the Sox are playing a home game, the place is mobbed — good luck. It is the "Official Burger of the Red Sox", after all.

Hollis Johnson

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The beer menu focuses on mostly local brews, like Harpoon, Sam Adams, and Narragansett. The restaurant further blurs the lines between fast-casual and full-service dining, with both take-out ordering, build-your-own burgers, and full table service.

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My drinks came first — a vanilla milkshake and a raspberry lime rickey. The milkshake is simple and sweet; it's hard to do a bad milkshake. It was ice cold, but the consistency was the perfect amount to drink through a straw.

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I saw the rickey on the menu and decided to go for it — I was not disappointed. Despite sounding like a fastidious, old-timey malt shop drink, it's surprisingly refreshing. Raspberry syrup, club soda, and freshly squeezed lime juice (no alcohol in this version, alas) makes for an invigorating drink on a hot day.

Hollis Johnson

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I ended up ordering two burgers, and a "50/50" bowl of fries and onion rings — the extremely helpful waitress suggested the cheaper combo instead of ordering both separately. The food arrived in under ten minutes.

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I'm immediately impressed with the fries. They're piping hot, and they have a satisfying crispness — there's not a limp fry in the bunch.

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The onion rings are a tour de force: thinly sliced red onion strings, fried to a golden, greasy crisp. Sure they're messy to eat, but one should expect that with a pile of deep-fried onion.

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Now, to the burgers. They're gorgeously wrapped in intricate paper to keep them warm.

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First up, the "Rise N' Shine" burger, with cheese, bacon, ketchup, and a fried egg. The melty cheese oozes perfectly out of the side, drenching the thin patty.

Hollis Johnson

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The burger is decent — the patty itself is juicy and cooked to perfection, and the egg adds a richness to every bite. Tasty Burger claims to only use humanly raised, antibiotic and growth hormone free beef.

The bacon is thick, smoky, and salty, but the sandwich needs something other than ketchup to freshen the taste a bit. It comes off as a tad dry overall, which could easily be fixed with a tomato slice or some lettuce. Of course, I'm sure one can simply ask for that when ordering, so it's a simple quibble.

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Also, every table has a lazy susan stocked with almost every condiment one can imagine, from Sriracha sauce to Heinz 57 to spicy ketchup and everything in between.

Now that is a stunning burger. The veggie toppings are vibrant and look as fresh and they possibly can, unlike many fast-casual counterparts. The size is just right — not disappointingly small, and not so comically large that one can't take a bite. Crunchy, bright pickles and red onions add a briny snap to each mouthful, and the tomatoes taste like they've been plucked off the vine.

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The bun holds its own, never giving way to sauce or cheese or tomatoes. Even better, the bun is toasted and buttered on the inside which lends a smoothness to the burger.

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The default burger is cooked medium, but you can easily request it grilled differently. The quality of the service is fantastic, and the quality of the food matches. There's a freshness to everything, and even with greasy sides like onion rings, one avoids feeling laden down or gross after eating.

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Frankly, I hope Tasty Burger expands further. It's a very promising chain that has already built a loyal fan base in the Boston area, and the quality of the food would surely attract more fans elsewhere.

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The question is this: given Tasty Burger's claims, will Chipotle's burger venture be similar to this? If it's based on Chipotle's assembly line fast-casual set up, then likely not. But until Chipotle's "Tasty Made" opens in Ohio, we can't be sure.